About 40% of workers make their own investment and retirement decisions based on personal research or advice from their family and friends, double the 20% who say they rely on financial advisers for advice. A mere 3% of workers look to their employers for investment and retirement guidance, according to a personal finance poll of about 2,300 adults by the Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive.

Nearly two-thirds of employees (66%) say that their employers play a minor role or no role in their retirement preparations, compared with just 12% who say their employer plays a major role.

Respondents who earn more are more likely to say their employer played a major or important role in their retirement preparations, but even among respondents who earn more than $75,000, 59% report that their employer played a minor/no role. For those who make made less than 35,000, 80% said their employer played a minor/major role in their retirement planning.

Education Correlation

College graduates are more likely to land jobs with more likely to land jobs that offer a greater variety of financial planning. Thirty-three percent of employed respondents who are college graduates saying their employer offers a generous company match for 401(k) contributions, while only 16% of high school graduates say the same thing.

According to the survey, 69% of those college graduates say their employer encourages financial planning or retirement preparation, compared to 45% of those with a high school diploma.

College grads also say that their employer invites professionals to provide financial or retirement-planning workshops, where only 8% of those with a high school education or less have this same opportunity.